1. Field of The Invention
The invention relates to the field of data storage, and in particular, to data storage for a personal digital device (PDD).
2. Background Information
A personal digital device (PDD) as the term is used herein, refers to small, portable devices, which store and manipulate information in digital form, such as digital cameras, both still and video, so-called personal assistants, hand-held computers, mp3 players, cell phones, pagers, and the like.
With such devices, storage capabilities are often at a premium because of size, weight and cost constraints, for example. On the other hand, because such devices often have many complicated features, setting up and using these devices may require a considerable amount of training time and detailed information for the new user. It is, therefore, convenient to provide on-board instructions relating to setting up and using the device and its various features. However, once a user has become familiar with setting up and using the device, the on-board information is no longer needed. Since the on-board set up and training information requires storage space, which as noted above, is limited, after the information is no longer needed, retaining it is a waste of a valuable resource.
Therefore, there is a need for a way to satisfy the requirement that set-up and training information be available on-board for a new user, and at the same time, satisfy the desire to make optimal use of the limited storage space available on-board.
It is, therefore, a principle object of this invention to provide a method and apparatus for storing data on a personal digital device.
It is another object of the invention to provide a method and apparatus that solves the above mentioned problems so that instructional information is available for the new user, but storage space is not wasted when the instructional information is no longer needed.
These and other objects of the present invention are accomplished by the method and apparatus disclosed herein.
According to an aspect of the invention, instructional information is pre-stored on a device for the new user.
According to an aspect of the invention, the instructional information is adaptively over-written as the new user becomes more and more experienced, depending on how the information is used.
According to another aspect of the invention, the process of adaptively over-writing the instructional information is based on how useful the information is to the user, i.e., how the user accesses the information.
According to another aspect of the invention, in the process of adaptively over-writing the instructional information, instructional information is over-written only after all of the nominal user data space has been consumed.
According to another aspect of the invention, the initial frequency of access to instructional data defines its usefulness.
According to another aspect of the invention, the more time that the most basic instructional data is used, the more novice the user.
According to another aspect of the invention, basic information is subdivided into basic and intermediate basic information. If the basic and intermediate basic information are not accessed, only the advanced information is retained.
According to another aspect of the invention, if the basic information has not been accessed by the time that all of the user storage space is consumed, then the basic information is eliminated.
According to another aspect of the invention, the invention is particularly useful with a reusable/recyclable personal digital system that is capable of capturing and storing digital information, such as a digital still or video camera.
According to another aspect of the invention, in the emerging market for small personal digital devices, the invention offers a way to store vast amounts of instructional, advertisement, and other information that is pre-loaded onto a device, and yet delete it by over-writing adaptively based on how useful the information is to the user. The method is transparent to the user, and the device is easy to use.
According to another aspect of the invention, the capability afforded by digital technology is taken advantage of, allowing for user flexibility and utility.
According to other aspects of the invention, a storage device includes both a user storage area and an area for instructions, updates, etc. The instructional data is eliminated only after all of the nominal user data space is consumed. The specific pre-loaded instructions that are over-written are chosen based on their importance to a particular user. For example, this intelligent overwriting can be based on what operational features on a specific device have already been mastered by a user, what features are not typically used or will probably not be used, and what access the device has to a communications network where the information might be readily accessed rather than from the storage on the device. The invention may be applicable to a wide variety of old and new devices.
According to another aspect of the invention, the way in which data is stored and retrieved from a recyclable digital device that employs a storage device is controlled. After recycling of the digital device, the storage device would be rewritten to again contain primarily information relevant to setting up and using the recyclable device. For example, a digital recyclable video camera uses an internal hard disk drive containing instructions on how to use the video camera. These instructions are viewed using the video camera itself. As the user becomes more familiar with the video camera, the instructions are gradually overwritten with user data such as video footage. For instance, basic information about how to use the video camera could be erased or designated as erasable, after the user uses the video camera for a total of 10 minutes. After 30 minutes of usage, more advanced instructional materials could be erased or designated as eraseable, as appropriate.
According to another aspect of the invention, the data stored on a hard drive inside of a video camera at some particular instant in time is controlled. Initially, a substantial fraction of the storage space on the hard drive is occupied with instructional information, e.g., an instructional video. This information is progressively overwritten based on the perceived user familiarity with the camera and the need for additional user storage space. For example, if the user begins immediately using the device to capture video and does not view the basic introductory video training sequences stored on the hard drive, then these introductory sequences can be overwritten first. On the other hand, if a user spends a great deal of time repeating the basic introductory information, then it could be determined that the user will not use the more advanced information that is stored on the hard drive. In this case, the more advanced information could be overwritten first.
According to another aspect of the invention, the invention monitors user activity and decides when and what pre-loaded information is overwritten first.
According to another aspect of the invention, if the device is xe2x80x9cweb-aware,xe2x80x9d that is, the device has interoperability with a communications network, e.g., a dedicated manufacturer dial-up network or a public network, such as the xe2x80x98Internetxe2x80x99 or xe2x80x98World Wide Webxe2x80x99, which contains downloadable information about the device, then it may be possible to overwrite most, if not all, of the pre-loaded information.
According to another aspect of the invention, when all instructional information has already been overwritten with user data, and additional storage space is still required, a warning is issued, and then a check is made to determine if the device has is xe2x80x9cweb-aware,xe2x80x9d that is, has access to storage at a remote web site, or other external storage device.
According to another aspect of the invention, where the device is xe2x80x9cweb-aware,xe2x80x9d when the available storage space on-board has been used up, user data can be transferred to remote storage over the network.
According to another aspect of the invention, where the device is not xe2x80x9cweb-aware,xe2x80x9d when the available storage space on-board has been used up, user data can be transferred to an external data storage device if available. For example, the device may have a port for transferring data to a portable disk drive, such as a zip drive, for external storage.
According to another aspect of the invention, where the device is xe2x80x9cweb-aware,xe2x80x9d updates of instructional information can be access from a remote manufacturer support web site.
According to another aspect of the invention, during a recycling phase, when the device is prepared for re-use or re-sale, the most current instructions are again loaded onto the hard drive.
According to another aspect of the invention, pre-loaded information may contain commercials (in the case of video), advertisement images, sound tracks, etc. In this case, the first data to be overwritten as the user becomes more experienced might be the ads.
According to another aspect of the invention, certain instructional information may be marked as read-only, i.e., overwriting of some information is prevented. Such information which would be protected in the case of a digital camera, for example, could be an address of where to send stored images, either electronically over a network or physically through a removable memory device, to have the images printed out.
These and other aspects of the invention will become apparent from the detailed description set forth below.